City fills more than 21,000 potholes in Queens

Potholes like these, on the Cross Island Expressway service road, are hard to avoid.

More than 21,000 pesky potholes in Queens have been filled so far during this year’s snowier than usual winter, the city’s Department of Transportation (DOT) said.

Nearly 2,000 in the borough were fixed last weekend, as part of the city’s season-long repair efforts, a department spokesperson said.

Since January, the 1,000-member roadway crew has set a record pace, working around the clock to fix more than 75,000 potholes along the city’s rocky roads, DOT Commissioner Polly Trottenberg said.

“These tireless public servants … will be filling many more given the snowstorms the city has already faced this winter, and the wear and tear that inflicts,” Trottenberg said.

Potholes typically pop up around February and die down by April, though the timeline is dependent on weather, experts say.

They form when water, that slips into cracks under the road, freezes and expands when the temperature changes, causing a freeze and thaw cycle that damages the road.

It becomes a hole when heavy traffic rolls over the weakened spot.

“It’s crazy, especially now after all the snow. Forget about it,” said Jose Soto, who drives from Flushing to Astoria. “It ruins your tires. You can get in an accident. It’s annoying. You have to zigzag.”

It typically takes a few minutes for crews to fill, compact and seal a pothole, a DOT spokesperson said.

More work is expected to be done next week on residential streets and major roadways, including the Long Island Expressway’s (LIE) eastbound service road, between Little Neck Parkway and the Nassau County border, and 149th Street at 27th Avenue in Linden Hill, the DOT said.

“It’s like a minefield on the LIE,” said driver Risa Doherty, who commutes from Roslyn in Nassau County to Bayside. “Cars are swerving around the potholes at high speeds.”